Day: September 18, 2009

Friday various

  • Tonight, I’ll be attending a live taping of The Sound of Young America. It’s streaming live at 8 PM Eastern, if you’d like to watch too. I expect part, or all, of the show will eventually find its way into the radio show and/or podcast.
  • So how is the World, Dubai’s string of man-made paradise islands for the über-wealthy and famous, doing? Not too surprisingly, not too well. [via]
  • Are Twitter users “well on their way to becoming violent, idiotic vagabonds hell-bent on destroying the world”? We can only hope! Every time I read a story like this, or one bemoaning the rise of social networking sites in general, I really don’t know how to respond, since their fears almost never match up with how I (or, I think, most people) use these things. [via] As Noel Murray writes:

    This is a common critique of Twitter: “I don’t need to know what a bunch of strangers had for lunch.” And yet that’s so far removed from the way I use the service that I’m unsure where to begin refuting it. Personally, I only follow a small group of people on Twitter, and I have a limited circle of friends of Facebook. Most of these are people I know—or at least know of. We’re talking to each other about things we’re presumably all interested in; we’re sharing quick thoughts on movies, TV, kids, and the petty annoyances and subtle joys of a passing day. The other day one of my Twitter-followers—someone I don’t follow, I hasten to note—complained that he didn’t like me having a six-or-seven-Tweet exchange with a friend and thereby “cluttering up his feed.” And all I could think was, “Dude, following me is not compulsory.” I think that’s what critics of Twitter often fail to understand. Though some may use Twitter and Facebook as one big “look at me,” the majority are just trying to stay connected with friends, old and new.

  • A live-action Scooby-Doo prequel? And here I was, thinking nothing could make me nostalgic for the Matthew Lillard/Freddie Prinze, Jr. versions… I don’t have a problem with the movie in theory — it would be ridiculous to think Scooby-Doo has any kind of canon that needs protecting, and I remember genuinely liking A Pup Named Scooby-Doo — but in practice, this looks pretty dire.
  • And finally, there’s got to be an easier way to avoid ads in Gmail… [via]

Random 10 9/18

Last week. This week:

  1. “Animal” by the Kinks, guessed by Kim
    It was not all cuts and bruises
  2. “I Die” by the Magnetic Fields
    You think your youth a permanent truth
  3. “The Letter” by Joe Cocker (orig. the Box Tops), guessed by Kim
    I’m gonna find my way back home again
  4. “That’s What I Like Mick (The Sandwich Song)” by Tori Amos
    Burnt toast, a beer from the wood, an’ old Jerry Thomas’ teeth
  5. “Stupid Girl” by Garbage
    You pretend you’re anything just to be adored
  6. “Jane Says” by Jane’s Addiction, guessed by Kim
    I only know they want me
  7. “The Limit to Your Love” by Feist
    Like a map with no ocean
  8. “Army of Ancients” by Dr. Dog
    The oceans and forests could collide into one
  9. “Water Here” by Bodies of Water
    All the ocean bends with a click and a groan
  10. “Witchcraft” by Frank Sinatra
    My heart says yes indeed in me

And so it goes. Good luck!